The Isle of Wight Council is to thank over 3,400 local carers for their dedication and commitment during the pandemic by giving them a one-off bonus of £250, in the form of a Wight Gift Card.
The local care and support workers are to be given Wight Gift Cards which they can use at any of 105 businesses and retailers on the Island.
The Wight Gift Card scheme was launched by the Isle of Wight Council in 2020 and was chosen as the best way to get money directly to local carers.
With over £850,000 in rewards given to carers over the next few weeks, this gesture of gratitude will also provide much-needed support for Island shops and other firms recovering from 2 years of COVID-19 restrictions.
The funding for this scheme has come from the government’s Recruitment and Retention Workforce Grant, which can only be spent on supporting the local social care workforce.
Councillor Lora Peacey-Wilcox explains:
“Over the last two years, we all know that many care staff have worked with extraordinary dedication, often in very difficult and challenging conditions, to give their clients the care, dignity and support that they need.
“The pandemic has hit the care sector hard, and just at the time when we need these skilled and dedicated staff the most, there has been a care staffing challenge across the country, including here on the Isle of Wight.
Article continues below this advertisement “It is with gratitude that we will be passing this part of the government’s Recruitment and Retention Workforce Grant directly on to those hard-working care staff, to thank them for their work, dedication and loyalty through the challenging times faced by the social care sector”.
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans adds:
“I like to think of the Wight Gift Card as our own currency, helping to keep the spend on the island which supports local jobs, businesses and services.”Choosing the Wight Gift Card for our dedicated care and support workers is a good way of enhancing the value of their well-deserved bonus.
“If your business wants to accept the Wight Gift Card it is really easy, email [email protected] to get started.
“Using a gift card is even easier, it works like a debit card in store or online.
“I hope that Isle of Wight care workers will find this gesture a helpful one, and a meaningful way for the Island community to say thank you for their vital work.”
UPDATE – An Isle of Wight Council spokesman said:
“Local care and support workers employed in Care Quality Commission registered services over last winter will be eligible for a £250 Wight Gift Card from the Isle of Wight Council.
“Regrettably due to the funding conditions imposed by central government we cannot extend this offer to non-CQC registered provision, or to informal care and support workers.
“For those that are eligible there’s no need to apply – cards will be given out over the next few weeks to everyone who qualifies for them.
“We would like to acknowledge all those who have supported and cared for those most vulnerable people within our community,
“We recognise and thank those people who continue to provide unpaid support for their families and loved ones.”
What about the hospital workers who have been working with covid and no bed space WORKIKG overtime having nearly 13 patients each everyday but will all still get slammed in papers saying we’re not good enough
Did they not get paid for their overtime?
Many workers on zero hour contract would jump at the chance of additional hours.
What about just being pleased for somebody else’s luck? Negativity will never make you happy.
Does this apply to home carers that receive Carers allowance, too? If so, how do they apply, please? My daughter deserves this soooo much!!
You must be joking. I have been caring for my mother for ten years and get £65 a week carer’s allowance to live on. No reduction in bills, no benefits, without my mother’s pension we would be sunk. No way will unpaid full time carer’s like me get this as we are totally unidentified and ignored as usual.
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The question was asked before the article was updated by IE.
Does this apply to home carers, as well? My daughter cares for me and receives Carers allowance, she deserves this so much!! Any information is greatly appreciated, thank you.
Sadly many home care workers are swindling the system. When a close relative exaggerates their often genuine issues to say they need help in the morning and night etc so the caring daughter or son can claim far more. Many do this with mental health issues as hard to prove easy to lie about. Only professional non related should claim as to open to fraud from the greedy immoral trash who see no harm in stealing what they see as government cash but it is taxpayers money
You can only claim carers if the person you care for gets Dla or pip and it’s £65 a week, to get that you have to provide over 36 hours a week, if you work full time you only get a reduced rate, only 1 person gets carers allowance caring for 1 person. More people working in the care sector professionally abuse those they care for than those caring for loved ones and claiming fraudulently. Unpaid carers deserve this “thank you” just as much as someone who chooses to work paid in the care sector. Unpaid carers are the back bone of this country saving tax payers millions every year!
Gift cards . Jesus H. Just give them the cash already. These gift cards are great – if you want a load of pointless cheesy tourist tat.
Money gets taxed, and you have to pay it into a bank account. Not everyone wants to do that.
You don’t agree that it’s a win-win for The Island then? Almost a million quid being received as a bonus and then being pumped into the local economy.
It’s called ring fenced money
It doesn’t really leave the system.
Unfortunately for all those hard workers who were risking their lives and getting ill themselves.
Shame on you iow council.
Not saying I don’t agree with this but least they had a job and still got paid. What about the poor people that lost their jobs or had hours cut they are out of pocket and struggling yet everything has gone up what help or reward do they get?
Become a carer, they need people desperately!
Yeah get paid peanuts, work as hard as you can shift on shift off.
For no gratitude these people doing this job are saints.
They should set their sites on being nurses who at least can work up their wages on the scaled paid system.
Councillor Lora Peacey-Wilcox explains:
“Over the last two years, we all know that many care staff have worked with extraordinary dedication, often in very difficult and challenging conditions.
………..
really Lora- what about everyone else – you know, those that kept food in the shops, those the kept the shops open, those that made sure you still had electric, water, gas, internet and what about those that kept the sewage system working – don’t they matter.
How narrow minded, that you do a bit of virtue signalling with taxpayer cash to one sector, but ignore the rest – clearly that is the most non inclusive policy to date.
You clearly didn’t read the article. The grant has to be spent on the social care workforce. Of that category, I’d imagine the carers are the least well paid. Seems to me, £250 will bring a smile to each of their faces. It’s a shame you decided to pull a grimace rather than be happy for this group.
no – the government either give grants to thank all those that worked throughout or none at all
It’s not always about money. Care industry and food industry are the 2 most rewarding industries yet both the least paid. But that’s why there’s a minimum wage. If your in a certain industry just for a payout your in the wrong job. Most key workers got bonuses from the companies they worked for during the pandemic
£850,000 in rewards given to carers over the next few weeks, which equates to the same amount of council tax paid by 800 of islanders in Band A- Those that can afford to pay the least are seeing the equivalent of their entire years council tax, handed to carers as rewards, whilst they starve because they face jail if they don’t hand over this money
disgusting.
Sorry I don’t think that this applies to unpaid carers.
My daughter sacrificed keeping the elder generation safe and well.
She works in a care home qcq regulated.
Her gift was a hair dressers voucher for the Isle of wight college.
Why didn’t they give these hard carers 250.00 is someone missing the point.
250 for hard work reward. Turned into a crazy hair voucher.
What would you have had.
No guessing their obviously the money.
Could someone explain this hypocrisy as I’m stumped.
No one has received the £250 vouchers yet, they are going to be handed out in the next couple of weeks so she will hopefully be lucky and have both hair voucher and gift card.
Yet if you ask your daughter I bet she doesn’t do her job to get a thank you bonus, she does the job because she cares about the people she cares for! If it was about the money she wouldn’t be a carer!
She will receive this card over the next few weeks if she still works in the home.
What on earth is a Wight gift card ? never heard of before.
It’s new for this
A nice little PR stunt to dosh out taxpayers money.
Will the cards take months to send out? Where’s the £150.00 council tax rebate?????
Everyone kicking the council for doing something nice for carers who worked tirelessly during the pandemic, risking their own health, not put on furlough being paid 80% of their salaries. The funds are from Central Government not IOW Council. The £150 council tax rebate (tax payers money Beggars Bleef) will be paid directly into bank accounts end of April. Hospital workers have been paid bonuses already.